# blackboard

Pronunciation: US say "BLAK-bord" /ˈblækbɔɹd/; UK say "BLAK-bawd" /ˈblækbɔːd/

## Noun

1. A large, smooth surface, usually made of dark slate, that can be written on with chalk and then wiped clean.
   - Simple: A dark, smooth board for writing on with chalk that can be wiped clean again.
   - _Rows of equations covered the blackboard by the end of the lecture._
   - _Several old blackboards still hung in the abandoned schoolhouse._

## Verb

2. To use a blackboard as an aid in an informal discussion, sketching out ideas as they come up.
   - Simple: To use a board you write on with chalk to help explain ideas during a casual talk.
   - _The team likes to blackboard new concepts before committing to a design._
   - _She blackboarded the rough outline so the group could react to it._

## Origin

A compound of "black" and "board," so named because such surfaces were once typically made of black slate.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/blackboard (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).